Shedding mechanism for looms



Jan. 4, 1944. FUCHS 2,338,633

SHEDDING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS Filed Jan. 50, 1941 I5 Sheets-Sheet l Jan. 4, 1944. L. FUCHS SHEDDING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 30, 1941 Jan. 4, 1944. FUCHS 2,338,633

SHEDDING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS Filed Jan. 30, 1941 3 SheetsSheet I5 Patented Jan. 4, 1944 V UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I I 2,338,633 r SHEDDING MECHANISM FOR LooMs Leopold Fuchs, North Bergen, J. Application January 30, 1941, Serial No. events 3 Claims. '(Cl. lea-s9) This invention appertainsto shedding mechanisms for looms, and more especially to an improved harness construction and control means therefor as applied to shaft weaving.

One of the primary objects of the invention is to provide a novel form of shaft harnesswhich is of such simple and compact form as to permit the assembly of a far greater number of the same in the space required at present fora much less number.

For example, It am able to.

assemble up to sixty or more of my improved harness shafts in the same space that twentyhveof the conventional type now require. This results not only in the important advantage of conserving space, but also more particularly, in simplifying the weaving of complicated or fancy designs, and with greater prominence of the design or the weave.

Another novel feature of the invention resides in the simplification 'ofthe harness from the standpoint of changing of heddles which can be performed with my improved harness while the warp is entered through the entire width of the harness, and in the shortest possible time. 7

A still further object of the invention is to provide a shaft harness mechanism which admits of the use of relatively long heddles resulting in easier handling by the operator and greater flexibility of the harness so as to eliminate rubbing and chafing which usually causes frequent breakages of the warp threads, especially wher theseare silk, rayon or some inferior grade of material. To this end, my in vention contemplates among other things the actuation of the harness shafts and heddles in such manner that the warp threads in passing from one line of the shed to the other do not all pass the center at the same time, and which admits of simple and quick adjustment as the conditions may require.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved rise and fall system which.

the novel features thereof defined by the appended claims.

In the drawings; 7 I

Figure 1 is a fragmentary view in front elevation of a harness mechanism constructed in accordance with my invention, certain of the heddles being omitted; 1

I Figure 2 is a view partly in section and partly in side elevation of the harness control mechanism or rise and fall system'which serves to produce the rise and fall motion of the harness shafts in forming the shed;

Figure 3 is a View generally similar toFigure 2, and constituting a section through the control mechanism generally parallel to the grifi loladesto show more clearly the improved grill. blade construction, certain of the grill blades being shown in their inactive position; 3

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view in top'plan' of the grid blades and associated cam'actuat- I ing means, certain parts being broken away and i shown insection; g

Figure 5 is a sectional viewtaken on the line 5-5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a detailed view of the eccentrlc I sheaves which form a part of the rise and fall I. control mechanism for the harness shafts;

Figure 7 is a detail view of one of the cams 0f the griif blade actuating mechanism;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary enlarged detail view in front elevation of the upper portion of one harness and showing the heddles attached to the heddle shaft, a portion of the harness shaft being broken away and shown in section;

Figure 9 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 9-9 of Figure 1;

view taken on the respectively on the lines H--i.l and i2--l2 of Figure 8; and

Figure-13 is a perspective view of an auxiliary heddle carrier which serves to permit interchange of certain heddles his. group without detaching the heddles individually.

Like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several figures or the drawings.

It is to be understoodat the outstart that the features of improvement to which, my invention relate are applicable to various types of looms, including the conventiona1 dobby looms and Jacquard looms, and. such looms may be converted for shaft Weaving by suitable modifl- 1 cation and substitution of the features hereinafter described. Since the main parts of the loom are well known and are more or less imbeen illustrated or described herein, and my application has been largely confined to the shedding mechanism and associated elements with which the improvements are more particularly concerned.

Referring to Figure 1, the reference character I designates the conventionalsupporting frame or super-structure which is usually provided on a dobby loom to serve as a mounting for the head motion. In the present invention, this supporting frame I carries the harness mechanism which includes a plurality of harness shafts 2 arranged one behind the other in closely assembled relation. Only one set of shafts is necessary for each loom, but the number of shafts will vary according to the requirements for the particular weave or design to be produced. Due to my improved harness shaft construction, each shaft is comparatively light in weight and of simple form, being preferably composed of sheet metal folded upon itself as best illustrated in Figure 11. Attached atspaced intervals to the shaft 2 and depending therefrom are hooks 3, also preferably composed of sheet metal with the bight of the hooks opening in an upward direction to receive a carrier bar 4. The form of the hooks will be best understood from reference to Figure 10. The carrier bar 4 may be composed of a solid bar, or it may be made in separable sections, as preferred, and serves to carry the heddles which are designated 5. To attach the heddles to the carrier bar 4, and consequently to the harness shaft 2, 1 preferably provide a simple though novel type of self-closing hook 6 which is best shown in Figures 12 and 13. These hooks 6 may be made of relatively stiff wire and are each provided with an eye 1 at its lower end which is attached to the upper end of a cord 8. The lower end of each cord 8 is attached to the upper end of a heddle 5. The upper end of eachhook 4 includes a portion 9 bent over and lying at a slight angle to the shank of the hook, and the free extremity Ill of the hook is bent to normally lie close thereto when the hook is closed. The material of which the hooks 6 are formed should have sufficient stiffness and resiliency to maintain the shape of the hook as Just described, and to cause the hook to be self-closing. By forcing the free extremity III of the hook away from the shank of the hook, the hook may be quickly and easily removed from the carrier bar 4 or applied on to the same as the occasion requires.

Attached to the lower end of each heddle is a lingoe or weight II which serves to impose a small weight or tension onto the lower end of the heddle and keep it in a more or less vertical position. By reason of the harness construction as just described, I am able to employ heddles of the one piece type and having alength of 36 inches, more orless, as desired. This imparts a much greater flexibility to the harness than is normally afforded in the conventional harness constructions, and minimizes breakage of the warp (not shown) entered through the heddles, especially in the case of heavily entered heddles and reeds.

While the hooks 6 permit simple and rapid interchange of the position of any heddle or heddles, or the complete removal of individual heddies, all while the warp remains entered through the entire width of the harness, I preferably provide an auxiliary carrier bar 4 'having a hook 3' attached thereto at its respective ends to entowards the shank so as able the auxiliary carrier bar 4 to be hooked onto the carrier bar 4 at any position in the length of the latter to support a group of heddles so that they may be interchanged, added, or removed without handling the heddles individually.

The hooks 8 attached to the upper ends of the respective heddles of the group may be the same as those which are applied directly to the carrier bar 4, but to compensate for the difference in the position of the auxiliary carrier bar 4', which is below the main carrier bar 4, the cords 8 shown in Figure 13 should be tied shorter, thus bringing the warps entered through the group o'f heddles in the same initial plane as those entered through the heddles which are suspended directly from the main carrier bar 4.

In order to suitably space the harness shafts 2 from each other and permit their passing without interference with each other during the rise and fall motion of the respective shafts, I preferably provide a guide frame generally designated I2, at each end of the loom and composed of a plurality of spaced bars IS. The bars 7 it of the guide frame II are arranged in vertical parallel relation to each other and are spaced apart in a direction transversely of the harness shafts so that the opposite ends of the respective harness shafts 2 and their corresponding carrier bars 4 are received in the spaces between the bars l3, forming ways in which the carrier bars and harness shafts are guided in the upward and downward motion of the latter. The upper and lower ends of the bars I! are respectively assembled on the rods l4 and I! which form a part of the guide frame l2, and the upper end of each guide frame is preferably adiustably supported at It so as to be movable both laterally and longitudinally relative to the loom frame I, as will be best understood from reference tn'Figure 1. While the hooks 3 which receive the carrier bars 4 are'preferably so constructed as to closely embrace the carrier bars when disposed in the hooks, the gripping action of the hooks should not be so great as to prevent complete removal of the carrier bars when the occasion demands. To prevent lateral displacement of the carrier bars 4 to one side or the other of the loom during the weaving operation, pins l1, II are disposedin the respective oppo site ends of the carrier bars and adjacent to the guide frames l2.

Provision is also preferably made for preventing transverse displacement of the respective harness shafts 2 during the rise and fall motion of the latter. To this end, there is attached to one or both ends of each harness shaft 2 an arm 18 carrying a vertically disposed elongated guide bar I9 having its upper extremity oflset laterally outwardly as at 20. Rlotatably mounted intermediate each guide bar I! and the adjacent side of the loom frame I is a grooved guide roller 2| in which the guide bar I! seats, allowing free movement of the harness-shaft 2 and guide bar I9 in an upward and downward direction. The upper offset end 20 or the guide bar I! limits the downward movement of the harness shaft 2.

Attached to the upper edge of each harness shaft 2 adjacent to each end of the shaft is a hook 22 by means of which the harness shafts may be removably attached to the rise and fall system now to be described. As best shown in Figure 8, each hook 22 is provided at its lower end with a laterally offset part 22' which is received through an opening in the upper edge of the shaft and lies within the base of the fold of the metal of the shaft. Attached to each hook 22 is a flexible connector 23, preferably having the form of a chain. Each chain 23 for'the corresponding pair of hooks 22 of each harnessshaft 2 extends upwardly from the respective hooks and is trained over an eccentric sheave 24 mounted upon and located above the upper end of the supporting frame I. The sheaves 24 are carried by shafts 25,25 and are free to rotate on their respective shafts. The opposite ends of the shafts 25, 25 are adiustably supported by stands 26, 26 which in turn are adjustably secured to the top of the frame I so as to permit adjustment of the respective stands 26 both laterally and transversely of the frame I. Provision is also preferably made for adjusting the elevation of the shafts 25in the stands 26 as will be best understood from reference to Fi ure 1.

From the foregoing, it will bev recognized that a pair of sheaves 2 4, 24 is provided for each harness shaft 2, corresponding to the pair of chains 23, 23 from which each shaft is suspended. Each sheave 24 is also preferably provided with spaced pins or sprocket teeth 21 about its periphery for engagement in the links of the corresponding chain 23. Due to the eccentric construction of the sheaves 24, 24, the rise and fall of the harness will be accelerated or retarded during the formation of the shed, but the still more important advantage is attained by making it possible to simply and quickly adjust the throw of the eccentric sheaves in timing the different harnesses of the entire set used so that the warp threads in passing from one line of the shed to the other will not all pass the center at the same time.

This has the important advantage of minimizing rubbing and chafing of the warp threads, rewhich silk,

suiting in breakage of the threads to rayon and inferior grades of materials are so susceptible. I

Referring now more particularly to Figures 2 to 5 inclusive, the ends of each pair of chains 23, 23 opposite to the ends which are attached to the hooks 22, 22 of the respective harness shafts 2, are attached to a griff blade 23. To facilitate the connection of the chains to their griff blades, I preferably provide a special form of connector 29 best shown in Figure 3 and comprising a clip having interlocking engagement at one end with the end of the grit! blade, and having a double socket in its opposite end at 23', 29" to receive the respective chains 23 of the corresponding pair. 1

It is understood that there is one griff blade for each harness shaft. The griff blades are assembled in a frame designated 30 which is attached to or otherwise supported at one'side of the loom frame I. Rotatabiy mounted in the frame 30 is a shaft 3| which may be driven from any convenient rotary part of the loom or main driving mechanism (not; shown). At the front and back of the frame 30 and fixed to the shaft 31 for rotation therewith is a pair of cams 32, 33. The cam 33 engages a follower 34 which is mounted on onev end of a bar 35, the bar 35 in turn being connected to a grifi bar 36 positioned at one ways 38 formed in'the respective front and rear sides of the frame 30. As shown best in Figure 4, the bar 35 extends through the guide block 31 and is fixed thereto by the lam nuts 33 and 40, while the guide block 31 is in turn attached to the end of the grifl bar36 by the screw 4|. This assembly is duplicated at both ends of the grill! bar.

Cooperating with the cam 32 is a. second bar I 42 which carries spaced followers 43,:44 and is provided with an elongated slot 45 through which the shaft 3| extends to permit free reciprocation of the bar 42 incident to rotation of the cam 32. The bar 42 is in turn connected to ,a second griff bar 46 disposed at .the end of the frame30 opposite to the griff bar 36. The connection of the bar 42 with the griff bar 46, and the slidable mounting of the griff bar 46 in the frame 30 is similar to that described above in relation to the bar 35 and griff bar 36, and hence need not be repeated at this point. Suffice it to say that the bar 42 and guide block 41 by which the same is connected to the griff bar 46 is duplicated at each end of the griff bar 46 for actuend of the frame 30 and slidably mounted thereon. The griif bar 36 extends across the frame 30 from front to back, and carries at its opposite ation by a corresponding cam 32. The free ends 35' and 42 of the respective connecting bars 35 and 42 are preferably guided in suitable ways provided in the frame 30 as will be best understood from reference to Figure 2.

As will also be seen from Figures 2 and 4, the cams 32 and 33 on the shaft 3| are set in opposed relation to each other so as to impart reciprocating motion to the respective grifibars 36 and 46 in opposed timed relation. While these cams may be of the same size, I preferably so construct the cams as to permit variation of the motion transmitted to the griif bars when such variation is desired. To this end, each cam may be supplied with removable cam segments 46 which may be interchanged with other segments of different shape. The detachable segments are 11- lustrated in Figure 7, showing one segment 46 attached to one of the cams 32 or 33, as the case may be, by means of the recessed bolts 43.

In order to establish an operative connection between the grifi bars 36 and 46 and the grit! blades 28, the grifi blades are assembled in the frame 30 in horizontal, parallel relation to each other. Each griff blade is guided by a pair of grooved rollers 50, 50 rotatably mounted at one I va hook 52 adjacent to the pivotal connection 5|,

and the section 28" is likewise provided with a hook 53 at its free extremity. The hook 52 coacts with the griff bar 46, and the hook 53 similarly coacts with the griff bar 36. For example, as the griff bar 46 moves to the right as viewed in Figure 3 (while at the same time the grifi' bar 36 is moving to the left) the hook 52, will be engaged by the" griff bar 46 to transmit themotion of the griif bar to the griff blade sections 28' and 28", which in turn are attached to the chains 23, 23 from which one of the harness shafts is suspended, resulting in a rising motion being imparted to the harness shaft.

moves to the left from the dotted line position illustrated in Figure 3, the grifl blades which are engaged with this grill bar will correspondingly move to the left, because of the weight of the harness shafts which normally tends to urge'the griff blades to the left. In other words, after each pick, the griff bars.;4, 6 and 36 are in the dot- As the griff bar 46 ted line positions shown in Figure 3, and all the hooks 52 are in engagement with thegrifi bar 46, all the warp threads being in the same plane. When the grit! bar 46 moves to the left, thelingoes will lower the warp threads out of the aforesaid plane and cause the hooks 52 to follow the gril'f bar 46, except those on the grifl blades which are movedby the grifi bars 36 engaging hooks 53 on its movement to the right, thus raising selected warp threads out of the aforesaid plane and forming the shed as in split shedding.

Since all the hooks 52 are in engagement with the grifi? bar 46 when the bar is in dotted line position, only those hooks 52 can be in engagement with it in full line position which have their griff blade hooks 53 elevated by the needles 55 of the pattern mechanism out of engagement with the griii bar 35. When it is desired to render any particular grifi blade or group of grid blades inactive, this may be simply and quickly done by engaging the pre-determined griif blade sections with a stationary bar 54 which is hired to the frame 3!? as illustrated in Figure 3. These griif blades which may not he needed for certain weaves may thereby be conveniently disposed of, while they are always readily accessible when it is desired to restore the to an active position. the grid blades as just described is possessed of considerable strength necessary to control the blades may be controlled by any suitable pattern mechanism which is generally represented in Figure 3 by the needle 55 disposed beneath each of the griff blade sections 28" so that when the needles 55 are raised in any pre-determined order, they will impart a corresponding elevating movement to the pro-determined grifi blade sections 28" and thereby move the hooks 53 of these griif blade sections out of the path of the griff bar 36.

The operation of the invention should be clear from the foregoing description, and accordingly need not be repeated. It may be well, however, to emphasize that each harness shaft may be timed independently of the others, and this in a most simple and effective way. To form an uneven lift as is very profitable in the case of heavily entered harnesses and reeds, it is merely necessary to raise the'chains 23 to a position temporarily out of engagement with the eccentric sheaves 24 and then set the sheaves to any angu lar position desired. This simple adjustment is permitted by reason of the fact that all of the sheaves on each shait25 are loosely carried by the shaft and are free to be rotated relative to each other. a

By reason of the novel combination of elements which enter into my invention, all types of bindings and an unlimited range of figures or designs can be produced, as contrasted with the usual limitations imposed upon conventional looms, some of which can produce only a single type of binding known as taffeta, and a very limited range of variation of figure.

The particular construction of While the specific details have been herein shown and described, the invention is not'confined thereto as changes and alterations may be made without departing from the spirit thereof as defined by the appended claims. a

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a shed operating mechanism, for shaft looms having a plurality of harnesses arranged I for movement in an upward and downward direction in timed relation to raise and lower selected warp threads entered through said harnesses relative to a common plane to form the shed, a. plurality of jointed grifi blades, one for each harness, supported at one side of theloom in parallel relation to each other for horizontal reciprocating movement, a pair of flexible motion-transmitting members directly interconnecting one end of each grid? blade to laterally spaced points of the shaft of a corresp nding harness, a pair of eccentric sheaves for each harness rotatably supported above the corresponding shafts in laterally spaced relation to each other and with their axes of rotation arranged perpendicular to the plane of the harness, said flexible motiontransmitting members of each harness being trained over the respective eccentric sheaves, and

the sheaves for the respective harnesses being rotatively displaced relative to one another'so that on raising and lowering the harnesses by the motion imparted thereto by the flexible members trained over the sheaves, the warp threads en terecl through the harnesses will not pass the center of the shed at the same time as the warp threads are shifted from one line of the shed to the other by the reciprocating movement of the griff blades, a pair of horizontally reciprocable grifi bars arranged transversely of the grid blades in spaced parallel relation to each other and mov-' able in opposed timed relation lengthwise of the griff blades, abutment means on the jointed sections of each grifi blade respectively disposed in the path of movementof the grill bars to produce reciprocating movement of the griff blades by either of the grifl bars, means for selectively displacing the jointed sections of the grit! blades to disengage their abutment means from one of the grlff bars while reciprocating motion is transmitted to'those grifi blades by the other griff bar, and means for reciprocating the griff bars.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the eccentric sheaves of the respective pairs of sheaves are rotatably adjustable independently of each other to vary the throw thereof, and thereby permit independent timing of the harnesses.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the flexible connectors and sheaves have positive, anti-slipping engagement with each other.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the flexible connectors have the form of open-link chains, and the sheaves are provided with circumferentially spaced projections on their peripheries to positively engage the chains.

5. In a shed operating mechanism for shaft looms having a plurality of harnesses arranged for movement in an upward and downward direcone end of each grid blade to laterally spaced points of the shaft of a corresponding harness, a pair of eccentric sheaves for each harness rotatably supported above the corresponding shafts in laterally spaced relation to each other and with their axes of rotation arranged perpendicular to the plane of the harness, said flexible motiontransrnitting members of. each harness being trained over the respective eccentric sheaves, and

. grifl blades, a pair of horizontally reciprocable grifl bars arranged transversely of the griif blades in spaced parallel relation to each other and movable in opposed timed relation lengthwise of the grifl blades, abutment means on the jointed sections of each grifi blade respectively disposed in the path of movement of the griif bars to produce reciprocating movement of the griff blades by either of the grifi bars, means for selectivel displacing the jointed sections of the grill blades to disengage their abutment means from one of the grit! bars while reciprocating motion is trans mitted to those griflf blades by the other griif bar, and cam means for reciprocating the grill bars.

6. In a shed operating mechanism for shaft looms having a plurality of harnesses arranged for movement in an upward and downward direction in timed relation to raise and lower selected warp threads entered through said harnesses relative to a common plane to form the shed, a plurality of jointed grid blades, one for each harness, supported at one side of the loom in parallel relation to each other for horizontal reciprocating movement, a pair of flexible motiontransmitting members directly interconnecting one end of each grifl' blade to laterally spaced points of the shaft of a corresponding harness, a pair of eccentric sheaves for each harness rotatably supported above the corresponding shafts in laterally spaced relation to each other and with their axes of rotation arranged perpendicular to the plane of the harness, said flexible m0- tion-transmitting members of eachharness being trained over the respective eccentric sheaves, and the sheaves for the respective harnesses being rotatively displaced relative to one another so that on raising and lowering the harnesses by the motion imparted thereto by the flexible members trained over the sheaves, the warp threads en tered through the harnesses will not pass the center of the shed at the same time as the wa threads are shifted from one line of the shed the other by the reciprocating movement of the grifi blades, a pair of horizontally reciprocgriff bars arranged transversely of the griff in spaced parallel relation to each other and n able in opposed timed relation lengthwise of griif blades, abutment means on the jointed sec tions of each grid? blade respectively disposed in the path of movement of the grifl bars to produce reciprocating movement of the grid blades by either of the griif bars, means for selectively dis placing the jointed sections of the grid blades to disengage their abutment means from one of the grill bars while reciprocating motion is trans" mitted to those grid blades by the other grill bar, and continuously rotatable cam means for reciprocating the grill bars.

'7. In a shed operating mechanism for'shaft looms having a plurality of harnesses arranged for movement in an upward and downward direction in timed relation to raise and lower selected warp threads entered through said harnesses relative to acommon plane to form the shedpa I plurality of jointed grill blades, one for each-harness, supported at one side of the loomin parallel relation to each other for horizontal -rec ip-.

rocating movement, a pair of flexible motiontransmitting members directly interconnecting one end of each griff blade to laterally spaced points of the shaft of a corresponding harness,

a pair of eccentric sheaves for each harness rotatably supported above the corresponding shafts in laterally spaced relation to each other and with their axes of rotation arranged perpendicular to the plane of the harness, said flexible motiontransmitting members of each harness being trained over the respective eccentric sheaves. and I the sheaves for the respective harnesses being rotatively displaced relative to one another so that on raising and lowering the harnesses by the motion imparted thereto by the flexible members trained over the sheaves, the warp threads entered through the harnesses will not pass the center of the shed at the same time as the warp threads are shifted from one line of the shed to the other by the reciprocating movement of the grill blades, a pair of horizontally reciprocable grifl bars arranged transversely of the griif blades in spaced parallel relation to each other and movable in opposed timed relation lengthwise of the grifi blades, abutment means on the jointed sections of each griff blades respectively disposed in the path of movement of the grill bars to produce reciprocating movement of the griif blades by either of the grill bars, pattern-controlled means forseleotively displacing the jointed sections of the grit! blades to disengage their abutment means from one of the grifi bars while reciproca-ting motion is transmitted to those griff blades by the other griif bar, and means for reciprocating the grifi bars. I

8. In a shed operating mechanism for shaft looms having a plurality of harnesses arranged for movement in an upward and downward direction in timed relation to raise and lower selected warp threads entered through said harnesses relative to a common plane to form the shed, a plurality of jointed grifi blades, one for each har ness, supported at one side of the loom in parallel relation to each other for horizontal reciprocating movement, a pair of flexible motiontransmitting members directly interconnecting one end of each grid blade to laterall spaced points of the shaft of a corresponding harness, a pair of eccentric sheaves for each harness rotatably supported above the correspondin shafts in laterally spaced relation to each other and with their axes of rotation arranged perpendicular to the plane of the harness, said flexible motiontransmitting members of each harness being trained over the respective eccentric sheaves, and the sheaves for the respective harnesses being rotatively displaced relative to one another so that on raising and lowering the harnesses by the motion imparted thereto by the flexible members trained ove the sheaves, the Warp threads entered through the harnesses "will not pass the center of the shed at the same time as the warp threads are shifted from one line of the shed to the other by the reciprocating movement of the grifl blades, a pair of horizontally reciprocable griiI bars arranged transversely of the grifi blades in spaced parallel relation to each other and movable in opposed timed relation lengthwise of the grifl blades, abutment means on the jointed sections of each 'griif blade respectively disposed vin the path of movement of the grifi bars to produce reciprocating movement ,of the. griif blades by either of the grill bars, means for selectively dis- 

